Finding the Christmas Spirit

Kaycee sat in the corner of the bar, staring into her drink. Well not into it, one could hardly stare into a pint of Guinness. Her headspace felt very not good. It was a problem she’d been having for days. It felt as though she were trapped in molasses or quicksand. Every step she took felt as if it gained her no ground.

Two days out from Christmas and she was definitely feeling more Grinch than Who. Work was… well the best she could say about it was that she was on holidays. It seemed more and more that the people applying for management positions and the like, were getting stupider and stupider, or maybe it was just becoming increasingly obvious the way to get a pay rise and promotion was to pucker up. Kaycee had never been good at that. She was good at her job, just not good at being a yes person.

She was fully aware this frustration was a large part of her dissatisfaction with the state of her career. Despite the frustration and her grumpy head space, Kaycee was out in public, girding her loins for some time spent socializing.

She’d not picked the location but somehow got here early, which was how she found herself with her back to the wall, a good view of the whole place and her hand wrapped around a pint. As the thick liquid hit the back of her throat she sighed. They said Guinness was an acquired taste and she had acquired it many years ago, but seldom chose to drink it. Honestly it wasn’t a particularly Christmasy or summertime drink, and she couldn’t say why she’d chosen it this evening, but she had.

A second mouthful slid down easily as the first notes of The Pogues Fairytale of New York started. It took her back to another time and strangely, or maybe not so much, eased some of the tension she’d been holding in her shoulders.

The song hadn’t even finished when the ruckus started, and the little bit of peace she had found, fled.

The raised voices drew her attention, even though a large part of her wanted to do like most of the world and ignore it.

A barmaid was standing there with a drink dripping off her nose and a guy, a good six inches taller, was yelling in her face. Kaycee looked around for a bouncer, only to see a couple of them busy with another obviously drunk guy at the door.

Watching the scene unfold Kaycee felt something inside her snap. She was sick to the teeth of selfish, arrogant people who liked nothing better than to be horrible to others and it seemed this Christmas was bringing that out in many. Just yesterday she’d been out shopping and she’d seen a middle-aged woman screaming at a retail worker who couldn’t have been more than fifteen. The young thing had only been doing her job when she’d asked to check the woman’s bag. For crying out loud, it was a business practice that had been around for years.

Kaycee couldn’t stand it another minute. Instead of turning tail and leaving, like all those negative thoughts were telling her, she stood. Grabbing her pint, or what was left of it, she found herself walking over to the altercation.

As she approached Kaycee held her glass out to the guy berating the young woman, ‘here hold my beer,’ she said.

The vile language stopped mid-stream and he looked at her stunned.

Kaycee thrust her beer at him again, this time he reactively took it. Smiling a smile that was decidedly not friendly, she judged the distance between them and kicked him hard in the balls. As he started to crumple, the blade of her hand caught him in the throat.

Timing it perfectly she grabbed her drink back and said, ‘you need to not be such an arsehole - it’s Christmas. If you can talk, I suggest you owe the girl an apology.’

Smiling at the barmaid, who mouthed, thank you, Kaycee went to return to her table, when she noticed a familiar face watching her with a broad smile.

‘So, are we feeling better, beautiful?’ Alan asked before leaning in to kiss her. ‘Hmmmm, it’s been a while since you drank stout.’

Kaycee didn’t even notice the weight she’d been carried had lifted and the negative voices were quiet. ‘Coincidence only,’ she said.

Alan led her over to the bar, ‘I can’t believe you told him to hold your beer. I think you’re my Christmas hero.’

Kaycee laughed. ‘Better than feeling like the Grinch I suppose. Besides, people should be nicer to each other.’

‘That they should,’ he agreed, kissing her soundly again before ordering a round of drinks.

I found myself just prior to Christmas feeling a little blah, with little motivation. I went out for a walk and this scene just came to me. Sometimes we need to make deliberate choices in order to break the funk we are in. Please feel free to heart or put a tip in the jar...